Infinity War shall be upon us soon, and with it, fan hype is rising quickly. Artist Kode LGX paid tribute to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with this incredible looking homage to The Last Supper.

Like Da Vinci's The Last Supper, LGX's The Last Shawarma (a humorous reference to the post-credits sequence of the first Avengers film) is packed to the brim with details for those who look closely. Look long enough and you might just find an insect-sized surprised.

You can look at the full-sized piece of art right here:

If you dig the illustration enough and want a print, you can grab it here. You can find the rest of Kode LGX's work here.

Much like Bubsy's puzzling return from obscurity with Bubsy: The Woolies Strike Back, there's been an air of great confusion surrounding Atari's unexpected resurgence to penetrate the video game market with a new console. A crowd-sourced campaign on Indiegogo was originally planned for the system with modern and retro design variants, but the project was put on hold when "one key element" snagged the publisher's progress with no word since then. With PC architecture running on open Linux-based software, creator and general manager Feargal Mac Conuladh told GamesBeat last year, "We wanted to create a killer TV product where people can game, stream and browse with as much freedom as possible, including accessing pre-owned games from other content providers." Now, Atari has resurfaced with a plan.

The company has announced that the Ataribox has been renamed the Atari VCS. More details on the console's capabilities will be disclosed at this week's Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco. In the meantime, the console is now accompanied with a modernized joystick and sleek controller reminiscent to the Xbox One's button layout and build. COO of Connected Devices Michael Arzt said, "With the Atari VCS name, we know how important it is to get everything completely right and that’s why we briefly paused an imminent launch late last year. It was a difficult decision with the countdown underway, but we weren’t willing to go forward with even one thing out of alignment."

A pre-order date for the Atari VCS will be annoucned sometime during April.

Our TakeI'm getting Ouya flashbacks from this strange direction that Atari is going in with this new console. It'll be key for the company to establish what makes the Atari VCS worth owning if consumers can already stream movies and play retro or modern games on other consoles. It's admittedly attractive in design alone, but it needs to have a hook or meet some demand in order to avoid turning into a nostalgic decoration.

Fortnite on mobile has only started releasing invites to early access, but it's already a huge success. Along with topping the App Store's chart as the top free game, Fortnite has already hit the number two spot for the top grossing games on Apple products. Candy Crush Saga still clings to the top overall spot, but Fortnite has surpassed games like Clash of Clans, Clash Royale, and Pokémon Go on its way up the ladder.

According to Apple's iTunes chart, the battle royale behemoth is the fourth-highest grossing app throughout the entire App Store, only eclipsed by Netflix, Pandora, and Candy Crush Saga.

Fortnite's popularity continues to grow as the game makes it way onto more and more platforms, prompting Epic Games to announce Party Royale, a celebrity-focused event that will take place in Los Angeles during E3.

Our TakeSo ... when is Fortnite coming to Switch? In all seriousness, Fortnite has been a huge hit on every platform that it touches. We can't say how long Fortnite will retain this level of popularity, but we're hoping it'll last long enough for Microsoft and Sony to start playing nicely together.

Streamer Tyler "Ninja" Blevins has joined the millionaire club, emerging as one of the most prominent streaming personalities in a sea crowded with them. Ninja made news last week for shattering Twitch viewership records by streaming Fortnite with rapper Drake.

The streamer recently chattered with CNBC about his experience as a professional streamer, where his income comes from, and what its like to play Fortnite with celebrities.

Update #2: The demo has returned to the PlayStation store, per Sega and Sony's statement.

Update: On the Yakuza Subreddit, a Sega representative explained the current status of the demo, but did not have answers for when it would return.

Will my account be banned for playing the full game? No. Absolutely not. We hope you enjoyed you “advance” preview of the later chapters in the game. Sounds like you did!

Will my save game file transfer over? Yes! All of that time you spent with Kiryu will carry over when the full game releases, so no time in-game is lost. However, trophies will not carry over to the full game when it is released and will need to be earned again.

We will update you as soon as we have more information on the status of the demo.

If you have the demo downloaded, your license to play it has likely already been revoked. Some players were able to finish the game in the time between discovery of the full game and the licenses being revoked.

The original story from February 27 is as follows:

Sega has pulled the Yakuza 6 demo from PSN on its day after release after some intrepid players discovered ways around the story gating progress to play the entire full game.

As we reported yesterday, the Yakuza 6 demo came in at a huge 36GB, essentially downloading the full game with the ability to progress stopping midway through the first chapter. It did not take long for people to figure a way around this, however, and have been posting screenshots from the English localization through the game's third chapter. As a response, Sega pulled the demo from PSN less than a day after putting it up.

“We apologize, but have had to remove the Yakuza 6 :The Song of Life demo from the PlayStation Store," Sega said on social media. "We are as upset as you are, and had hoped to have this demo available for everyone today. We discovered that some were able to use the demo to unlock the full game. We’re looking into the nature of the issue. Thank you for your patience.”

It is unknown if the existing demo will be patched or turned off in any way. Yakuza 6 is scheduled to release exclusively on PlayStation 4 on April 17.

Our TakeThis isn't particularly surprising and I am hard-pressed to think of a situation where having more data in a demo didn't result in people finding ways to access it. Still, hopefully Sega can get a demo out on PSN soon, as I'm sure many are eager to try it.

For anyone who grew tired of all the waiting in Hitman , we've got a speedrun for you. Speedrunner inkblowout utilized a save glitch in Hitman 2: Silent Assassin to set the record for the any-percentage category at three minutes and twenty-two seconds. This isn't inkblowout's first foray into speedrunning Hitman 2, as he currently sitting in second place for his 49 minute and 45 second run of the game on Professional difficulty with a Silent Assassin rank for each level. After hitting the 3:22 mark on multiple occasions, inkblowout has decided he can let someone else try and beat his time, even though he says there are spots where he could improve his timing.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

For more on Hitman, check out our Virtual Life column on the latest game.

Fredrik Rundqvist, a producer on The Division, has broken away from Ubisoft Massive to form his own studio with other notable talent including developers who worked on Hitman. The company is called Sharkmob and is working on a multiplayer iteration on a "cult classic" game but wouldn't go into further detail.

"We're not really interested in making a more traditional single-player type of game," Rundqvist told Gameindustry.biz. "What we play privately, the kind of games we love, are very social, very competitive, always multiplayer. The more the merrier."

The studios' site is online and says the developer is looking for new recruits.

[Source: GameIndustry.biz]

Our TakeIt's always refreshing to see established talent set off on new ventures. We're curious to see what Sharkmob is bringing to the table.

The untimely demise of MOBAs like Gigantic and Paragon are telltale signs of how unpredictable video game industry trends can be. In regard to the latter, Epic Games went a step further by refunding PC and PS4 players who had purchased the game and any DLC released for it. With the runaway success of Fortnite at its back, the developer has gone a step beyond by releasing all of Paragon's assets for use in Unreal Engine 4 for free, which come around to $12 million in total development costs.

There are 20 characters and 1,500 environmental components to experiment with at anyone's leisure. Animation cycles, sound effects, and skins are even being retained. You can peruse the current list of assets by clicking here, which is expected to expand over time with additional characters this summer.

[Source: Epic Games via Kotaku]

Our TakeEpic Games continually surprises with its generous actions through Paragon's end. I have no doubt that this will give many aspiring game developers incredible insight into what goes into the intricate 3D modeling and animation of the developer's work.

History Respawned is a YouTube channel that discusses the real-world history of popular stories in all mediums. Sometimes they even taken on video games, like Assassin's Creed and Papers, Please.

This week they're chatting about Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus' historical inspirations and how the game borrows from history to create its bleak vision of an alternate timeline. It's a pretty interesting discussion, even if Wolf II isn't your jam, with hosts Bob Whitaker and John Harney a discussing the interplay between history and pulp in one of the most politically charged AAA games in recent memory with guest and filmmaker Robert Greene II.

You can watch the whole thing right here (be warned: this is pretty heavy stuff, with an emphasis on racial tension and violence).

(Please visit the site to view this media)

For more on Wolfenstein II, check out our Virtual Life column on the game's powerful storytelling.

Each Monday, come here for a rundown of all this week's big events that we know about, from game releases, to betas, to recapping the biggest continuing news stories from the previous week. If there's anything we missed, feel free to let us know! This week covers the dates from March 19 to March 25.

Things To Watch Out For

Street Fighter Costumes (Captain Commando, Monster Hunter) – There are multiple Capcom costumes this week, including Nash as Captain Commando and Ken in Rathalos armor.Nindie Direct On March 20 – Nintendo is holding a direct focusing on indie titles on March 20 with games like Hollow Knight expected.Noctis Coming To Tekken 7 – Final Fantasy XV's young prince joins Tekken 7 on March 20.EA Details New Progression System For Battlefront II – Battlefront II's new progression system goes live on March 21.Monster Hunter World March Update – The angry pickle Deviljho and balance changes come March 22 on Xbox One and PS4.Game Developer's Conference – The Game Developer's Conference is taking place in San Francisco this week and sometimes includes announcements from developers.Overwatch League (Stage 2, Week 5) – Watch the Houston Outlaws take on Seoul Dynasty and see Dallas Fuel face off against London Spitfire.

In Case You Missed It

Yakuza Kiwami 2 Is Coming To The West, And We Got To Play It Sonic Mania Plus Announced, Physical Release And New Characters UFC President Dana White Coming To UFC 3 As Playable Fighter A Way Out Director Josef Fares On Designing Games As Their Own Medium Ten Underappreciated Sequels That Never Got Their Due Streamer Ninja And Rapper Drake Shatter Twitch Viewership Record With Fortnite Stream Shadow Of The Tomb Raider Confirmed For September Jeff Goldblum Returns For Jurassic World Evolution Former Halo, Battlefield Devs Announce Scavengers, A Third-Person “Co-opetition” Shooter Here Are The Game Informer Crew's Personal Top 10 Games Of All Time

What are you looking forward to this week? Let us know in the comments below!

Amazon has announced the GameOn applications programming interface (API) for developers that lets studios award in-game and real-world prizes fulfilled by Amazon.

Amazon envisions the developer tool ultimately being used by players to create in-game competitions (including leaderboards and leagues), with developers "retaining complete control over the prize type, value, and quantity."

GameOn launch partners include Eden Games, which created the Gear Club mobile title (shown), although the tech works with any platform.

[Source: Amazon]

Our TakeCrossing the line between in-game rewards to real-world ones is a tantalizing prospect that gamers have wanted, but which hasn't become widespread to this point. It will be interesting to see if GameOn makes this practice popular.

Lego has had a fair amount of luck turning properties into interesting video games over the years, with memorable titles being crafted out of the Star Wars, Marvel, and DC comic universes. Looks like the company is turning its gaze onto Pixar now.

According to The Brick Fan, a Lego fan site, sets being released for The Incredibles 2 have started showing up early at Walmart. Included with those sets is a teaser for a Lego video game version of The Incredibles:

The Brick Fan says the game will be developed by TT Games (responsible for developing the majority of modern Lego titles) and will be released in 2018. There is no word on whether or not the game will be a straight adaptation of the movie or have its own story.

[Source: The Brick Fan]

Our Take Obviously take all of this with a grain of salt since Warner Bros, Disney, and TT have not comfirmed any of this. However, The Brick Fan is pretty reputable and the photographic evidence lines up with what the site is saying, so it seems like this is happening.

HTC has announced the Vive Pro, the upgraded version of its current virtual reality headset, will retail for $799.

With that news also comes news of pre-orders, which will begin shipping on April 5. Additionally, anyone who purchases a Pro before June 3 will receive a free six-month subscription to Viveport, which lets customers choose five free games per month to play from a selection of games (anyone who buys one within 60 days of release will get a two-month subscription). The price of Viveport will also be increasing to $8.99 per month after March 22, though current subscribers can lock in at the current $7.99 price point until the end of the year.

The company isn't leaving out the original Vive, however. That unit's price point is dropping to $499.

The Pro makes a number of improvements on the original Vive; it increases the headset's resolution to 2880 x 1600 across both eyes (up from the Vive's 2160 x 1200), adds integrated headphones, better microphones and cameras, and makes the headband more comfortable and adjustable.

Our TakeThe press release briefly mentions that "Current Vive owners can upgrade their headset for the best display, audio, and comfort in the industry," but I think that's more of a general "you can buy the new thing now!" than an announcement of any kind of program. If that's not the case, I'd love to see an upgrade path for current owners to get a Pro, since early adopters often get the short straw when it comes to companies releasing new hardware iterations.

Kong: Skull Island director Jordan Vogt-Roberts is attached to Sony's film adaptation of Hideo Kojima's popular stealth series and, if nothing else, fans can be assured that the director knows his Metal Gear. Vogt-Roberts recently tweeted out a take about some of the MGS entries that are not quite as critically adored as others:

Just putting it out there that PORTABLE OPS and PEACE WALKER are two of the most brave and affecting entries in the MGS series and I don’t think they get the attention they deserve because they were on the PSP.

— Jordan Vogt-Roberts (@VogtRoberts) March 18, 2018

Little news has eeked out about the Metal Gear movie since Vogt-Roberts was put on the project but it's good to have signs he's thinking about Snake and company.

For more on Metal Gear Solid, check out our special edition podcast on the cast of Metal Gear Solid recalling the experience of recording for the game.

Early Access, for as long as its existed, has been derided for many reasons. The notion of paying a developer for an unfinished game has often rubbed consumers the wrong way, especially in the early days, when there were precious few games that serve as a testament to how useful the release format could be, allowing developers to let players play a key role in the formation of the game.

Fast forward a few years, and we have a few great titles that have emerged from Early Access, like PUBG and Subnautica. PUBG in particular has become one of the most famous (and perhaps influential) games of its time. So, reader: how do you feel about the state of Early Access in a post-PUBG world?

For my own part, I'm pretty comfortable giving money to a game that's being developed in the public eye that way, if I have faith in the vision and the talent behind the game. A rarity, for sure, but I've never scoffed at the idea of buying an Early Access title.

Beasts all over the shop. Only one thing to do: get your trick weapon sharpened and take it to the monsters roaming Yharnam. Gamers have either been getting back into From Software's goulish classic or getting their feet red and wet for the first time since Bloodborne became a PlayStation Plus title earlier this month.

Artist Michael Ildmirkin has decided to do a series of pieces around Bloodborne. The first is a PS4 stand starring the creepy messengers from the game (seen above)

You can take a look at the work-in-progress from more angles and at different stages in the creation process, on IIdmirkin's Instagram page.

IIdmirkin says he plans to sell the stand once it's done, though the legality around that is questionable given this appears to be a fan project. Still: the stand sure is something to behold in all its horrific glory.

Super Mario Bros 3 is one of the gaming greats (as evident by how high it scored on our recent 300 greatest games of all time list). Those triviamasters over at Did You Know Gaming are back with another video that throws out tons of interesting tidbits, like how Super Mario Bros 3 was originally be envisioned as a top-down game.

You can watch the whole thing right here:

(Please visit the site to view this media)

For more trivia from Did You Know Gaming, check out their work on Donkey Kong Country. If you're in the mood for more Mario, take a look at out our rankings of every game in the plumber's series here.

South By Southwest (SXSW), the popular media festival that takes place in Austin, Texas every year announced winners for the gaming category late last night. The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild took home the big win but Nier: Automata, Cuphead, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and Night In The Woods also earned nods.

Sega hosted an art exhibit at a Los Angeles gallery today, celebrating the art, including the designs created by tattoo artist Horitomo, for Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, That game is still a month away from release, but Sega isn't about to let the franchise lose any momentum. As part of the event, the publisher revealed it is bringing the Yakuza 2 remake Yakuza Kiwami 2 to the West. The update includes visual updates, additional minigames, and an all-new three-chapter campaign starring Goro Majima.

The game follows in the footsteps of last year's Yakuza Kiwami, which was a remake of the first game in the series. Kiwami 2 includes new minigames, including golf bingo; arcade games Virtua Fighter 2, Virtua Fighter 2.1, and Virtua On; and the cabaret minigame from Yakuza 0. Majima can build his own clan, too, similar to the new mode introduced in Yakuza 6. Audio has been rerecorded for the update, and the localization team has revisited the original script to ensure that it's as faithful to the Japanese original as possible.

"There’s a lot of different stuff that originally was in Kiwami that they rebuilt in the Dragon Engine now as well," says localization producer Scott Strichart. "All the stuff that got left out at the back end of Kamurocho is back in, the champion district and all that stuff. So Kamurocho is a little bigger than it was in 6, actually. And then in addition there’s a whole other city, Sotenbori, like 0. It’s not quite as big as it was in 0, because it’s based off the original version of Yakuza 2."

That all sounds great, but how does it play? I was fortunate enough to sneak in a gameplay session before the announcement, and I felt right at home. I was dropped into the story right when Kiryu meets up again with his friend/rival Majima, who is now running a construction site from his base of operations in the underground base, Purgatory. Majima is delighted to see Kiryu-chan and decides – for whatever reason – that Kiryu should enter a quick combat tournament to see if the Dragon of Dojima still has what it takes.

I started off against a chump in black briefs, a furry vest, and an axe. I wasn't able to customize my moves, but my bread-and-butter combos were available, and ol' vesty was down for the count in short order. After that, I faced off against Purgatory's old champ, Gary Buster Holmes. Holmes seemed to be cheating a little, wielding a pair of steel spiked maces on his fists. No worries. I used my heat-action moves to counter his attacks, and ended up victorious.

The final battle was a little more interesting. Majima entered the cage writhing and gyrating, accompanied by his own pyro show. He was significantly quicker than the other two opponents, and I nearly lost. Fortunately, I was able to built up my heat gauge enough to unleash my Feel the Heat move – which originally popped up later in the series – mashing the square button to load up a massive attack, which I unleashed by smashing the triangle. Down, but far from broken, Majima recovers saying he and Kiryu should hash it out over a beer.

My demo ended with a quick look at the Majima Construction minigame, which is similar to the Clan Kiryu mode from Yakuza 6. The big difference here is that it's more defense oriented. Rather than focus on sending out waves of disposable foot soldiers reinforced by higher-quality recruits, in Kiwami 2 the focus is on protecting the construction site and its assets with those recruits. You can level them up with in-game cash, and it seems much more open and has a more strategic bent than what we saw in Yakuza 6.

It was a short demo, but it did what it was supposed to do: leave me wanting more. Fortunately, I won't have to wait long. Yakuza Kiwami 2 is coming to PlayStation 4 on August 28, and it's priced at $49.99. You can get a quick look at the game in action below.

Final Fantasy VI is widely regarded as one of the greatest JRPGs of all time. But like most games, it's a bit of a magic show, swapping things in and out to show players the right thing on-screen at the right time.

Boundary Break Youtuber Shesez is back with another video, this time showcasing various elements of how Final Fantasy VI is put together. While the ways it manipulates code aren't as flashy as they would be in a 3D, there's still a lot to dig into in the 16-bit, and if you're fan of the game and how games are put together, there's tons of little lessons here to learn.

The video shows off how various aspects of how the game is made, including how the title logo gets those little flames behind it, how some sprites are assembled before they're shown to the player, and how the behind-the-back overworld areas work.

Although it strives for realism over gameplay, Kingdom Come: Deliverance is made of code and bits just like any other game, and one of the biggest issues we had with it on release was how buggy it was. Hopefully, a the new 1.3.1 patch, which is available now on consoles and PC, will make it a lot less buggy.

The patch makes a number of substantial changes, the most notable of which is the promised change of the save system. Now players can choose to "Save and Exit" at any time, letting them mark their progress wherever they are instead of having to find a bed or drink an expensive magic potion to save. Saves won't get corrupted if the game crashes while saving, either. Finally on the save front, the PC version now supports Steam Cloud, letting players take their save across multiple PCs.

There are also a number of performance, visual, and gameplay changes, all of which aim to relieve the stress of living in medevial Bohemia. To see exactly what's changed, check out the full patch notes.

Pokémon Go-related mishaps and real-life incidents were all the rage when the game was on top of the world back in 2016, as the game's millions of players began meeting each other, for better or worse. Well, some idiot decided to bring that "magic" into 2018 in the worst way possible.

Washington TV Station KATU reports that while Go players Andrew Otton and Grayson Hagstrom were hanging with a friend at Vancouver's Burnt Bridge Creek Trail, someone parked their car near them, got out, and started charging them with a tire iron.

"He comes out of nowhere, yelling, 'WHICH ONE OF YOU IS ANDY?' with a tire iron in his hand," Otton told KATU. Otton's name in Go is AndySamberg. The man with the tire iron, who court records reveal is named Stephen Jolly, was looking for Otton because as Olly was attempting to take a nearby gym, Otton was disputing it. "I was just reviving my Pokemon when he was trying to take it out.," Otton said. "I took it from him, and I didn't know he just took it, and he was like, 'Hey did you just take this gym from me? That's pretty messed up man.' He was very angrily saying it."

What happened next is a bit of a toss-up. Jolly admits he hit a table with the tire iron, but disputes Otton and Hagstrom's report that he punched Hagstrom several times. Hagstrom then defended himself after realizing the best defense is a good offense. "I got behind him and started choking him," Hagstro told KATU. "I figured if he didn't have consciousness, he wouldn't be that tough."

Otton and Hagstrom caught Olly's license plate and reported the incident to the police. Olly has no previous criminal history, but is now facing assault and malicious mischief charges.

[Source: KATU]

Our TakeWith the recent resurgence of the discussion about whether video games cause real-world violence and/or gun crimes, there's a lot to unpack here. But can well agree that Go of all games isn't worth getting this upset over?

Myst, which Game Informer recently named one of top 300 games of all time, was a landmark title for video games, showing a whole new generation of players the magic of an old-school adventure. But it's a little hard to play nowadays. Developer Cyan Worlds is hoping to make it a little easier this year.

The company has announced that, to celebrate the franchise's 25th anniversary, it will be releasing updated version of every game in the franchise for Windows 10 "later this year." The reason this hadn't happened sooner (beyond the whole anniversary thing) was that Cyan had been unable to get the rights to do so for a few years. "As an indie developer, resources are limited for development, and acquiring rights isn’t always an option," the company said in its announcement. "But we managed to finally talk to all the right people and departments and put some funding together to try to make it happen."

Cyan also wants to make a physical package bundling all the games for collectors. Those interested in more details in that physical version should "stay tuned."

Finally, Cyan teased that there could new Myst games in the future. "There will probably be more adventures in the Myst universe, but we’re reserving 2018 for remembering our journey, and making something special to commemorate the last 25 years."

[Source: Official Myst website]

Our TakeI never played Myst growing up, but hearing the heated debates our staff had about it for the 300 meeting makes me want to reconsider. I'm a little skeptical about whether it holds up today, but hey, this is probably the year to find out.

Last night at at Atlanta, Georgia's Final Round fighting game tournament, the Dragon Ball FighterZ competitive scene concluded a saga not unlike on from the show it's based on play out, as an exhibition match weeks in the making finally came to an explosive conclusion.

Dominique "SonicFox" Mclean is widely seen as one of the US's strongest fighting game players, period. He's dominated tournaments for years, and is currently ranked as the top player for several games, including Injustice 2, Mortal Kombat X, Skullgirls (he's no slouch at Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite and Street Fighter V, either). So when he set his sights on Dragon Ball FighterZ, many assumed he was going to once again take over. They were right. SonicFox is currently the American Dragon Ball FighterZ player to beat, winning several tournaments and quickly gaining a reputation as being unstoppable.

Meanwhile, Kishida "Go1" Goichi has emerged as the premiere DBFZ player from Japan. Goichi's no newbie, either; he's been a staple in the anime fighting game community, racking up wins in BlazBlue, Guilty Gear Xrd, and others. He's also a top Street Fighter V player, earning fourth place in the game at Evo in 2016.

The modern FGC is a splintered-but-worldwide community, though, and it didn't take long for the two to recognize each other's skill. The rivalry began when Goichi won a tournament in Osaka, Japan. When he got on the mic to talk about his win, he specifically called out Mclean. "Next is you, SonicFox," Goichi said at the tournament.

Mclean quickly responded on Twitter with his own challenge.

GOICHI COME. IVE BEEN MEANING TO TAKE YOUR HEAD AND SHOW YOU WHOS PERFECT https://t.co/wQOfFEHVjr

— Echo Fox | SonicFox @ FR 2018 (@SonicFox5000) February 24, 2018

And after winning a major US tournament at Winter Brawl 12, Fox called out Goichi yet again. "Goichi, omae wa mou shindeiru," - "Goichi, you are already dead," a reference to the classic fighting anime Fist of the North Star.

After it was announced that Goichi would be traveling to America to play in this weekend's Final Round tournament, the tournament's organizers couldn't pass up the opportunity. They quickly announced an exhibition match between the two would take place during the event, in which Mclean and Goichi would face each other in a first-to-ten match. The announcement even had promo art.

Friday, March 16th - 6pm EST #FR2018 ft10 @sonicfox5000 VS @go13151 YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS #DBFZ pic.twitter.com/7FkIUroDsl

— Final Round (@ATLfinalround) March 12, 2018

A match between an unstoppable force an immovable object is always one to watch, and the community waited anxiously to see these two champions face off. Yesterday evening, the two finally went at it.

The match wasn't without its own drama, however. A few minutes after the match, the livestream of the event suddenly ended, replaced with shaky-cam footage of someone recording the match on their phone from far away. Someone had accidentally begun streaming the match under the main stream's account on mobile, prompting the dedicated stream to end and be replaced. The issue was taken care of a few minutes later. Luckily a local recording of the match served as a backup post-match.

(SPOILERS FOR THE MATCH FOLLOW BENEATH THE VIDEO)

(Please visit the site to view this media)

The entire set went for an entire hour, proving DBFZ's matches are on the long side. However, few would complain about the match being boring; DBFZ's exchanges, mixups, and speed are such that even if you're not entirely sure what's going on, it's fun to watch. And seeing players as gifted as Mclean and Goichi face off made the game look downright incredible. The combos are just the right length, showcasing a player's practiced skill without being tiresome. The emphasis is more on the moments between those combos, as both players had a slew of "blockstrings" (strings of attacks most opponents must block consecutively without being able retaliate) at their disposal. Waiting to see when one player would dash to the other side to trick their opponent, or interrupt their blockstring by going for a throw, or anything that might get them the first hit that would lead to another combo, made for incredibly tense matches. If you can, I suggest watching the entire match.

While Mclean got an early lead, it was clear Goichi was simply getting his bearings. As the set went on, Goichi got a strong read on Mclean, blocking most of his strings and even reading his throw attempts. Mclean had a solid gameplan for each of his characters and could extend his combos by using other character's assists and supers, but had trouble coordinating his team as a unit. He didn't swap out low-health characters as often, which meant he missed out on health that was regenerated while characters are on reserve. Goichi had a far better handle on how to manage his team.

He also had trouble dealing with Goichi's Adult Gohan blockstrings. The character is currently infamous for being able to lock down opponents with long strings of attacks that are nearly impossible to interrupt until Gohan runs out of assists and meter. Mclean relied on swapping out his characters defensively (something the game lets you do by sacrificing one bar of meter), but didn't seem to have the timing on that move down, leading to several scenarios where he would defensively swap only for the incoming character to get opened up by a full combo. This put Mclean on the backfoot during most matches, and made it difficult for him to mount a comeback. Goichi quickly mounted a lead and stuck with it, eventually building enough momentum to roll Mclean several matches in a row.

Don't worry about Mclean too much, though; he took the loss in stride.

I aint salty I think I know what I can do better! I cant be mad at someone so good!

— Echo Fox | SonicFox @ FR 2018 (@SonicFox5000) March 16, 2018

Despite the lopsided 10-4 score, it was a riveting watch, and a fantastic showcase of how DBFZ is bringing various fighting game communities together, leading to "crossover" matches like one between top players from the anime and Mortal Kombat communities. And with the game currently ahead of even Street Fighter V in entrants at Evo, it's likely the best DBFZ matches are yet to come. In fact, the proper DBFZ tournament at Final Round is still underway, and while all eyes are on Goichi, there are a number of strong competitors (including Mclean) who'd love to get in his way.